Milne's Painting

we decided to use Milnes to paint our house based on the Big Deal they were offering as well as the mostly great reviews.
it took a few days to get an estimate for the job. it was more than the deal as our house was pretty big, but we expected that. when we finally started to get the job scheduled, they said the job would go from Monday through Friday but as the house was so big it might have to go to the following week starting on Wednesday as they had another job scheduled. Again, we were fine with that.
where it started to go South was getting a call at 9pm on Sunday night before the job was supposed to start saying the van broke down and they would start Tuesday. due to my husbands and my schedule, I scheduled myself to take Tuesday off as we only had one car. didn't find out until Tuesday after 9am that they were not coming as the van was still broken. Todd's assistant CJ told me she left a message for me, but there was none on any of my phones (work, home or cell) Needless to say, if I knew that they were not coming, I would have scheduled my day differently. I understand things happen, but I really wish they communicated to me better. I can forgive a lot as long as you tell me things. the only time this would not have been an issue is if the it happened on the way to the job...
they came on Wednesday to power wash the house. Thursday was scrape, sand and prime. Friday they showed up before 6am and woke up my husband (who wears earplugs, I had left for work already) which means I am sure they woke up my neighbors. they started painting the house and stayed until 8:30pm. they came back on Saturday and finished up things.
so the job went from up to 8 days down to 3.5. they only painted one coat. they told me to get a total of 22 gallons of paint. the paint store only had 17 so that is what I picked up. a total of 14 was used so while it is good we have some extra, I am glad I didn't buy the extra paint. however if they put up the 2 coats as I was actually expecting, I wouldn't have complained.
but as they did this job so fast I am wondering what corners they cut.
also, these guys chat, bicker and banter all the time. there is no time when they don't talk it seems. this was a bit unnerving at times.
and the last nail in the coffin was that they painted all but one window shut. we live in an older home (Craftsman) with the original sash windows. Experienced painters should know they would need to open said windows when painting. we didn't think to test the windows until later, when it was rather warm. The response we got from Todd was that he would come out 'next week'. I am sorry, but that sort of thing doesn't sit well with me and considering we already paid them, there was actually no incentive for them to come back. I asked for a date and got from CJ that she 'understood and would try'. I hated to have to do this but I informed them that we would cancel the check and reissue payment once the windows were open. I got a call 2 minutes later and was told that they would arrive Monday first thing.
They came Monday and unstuck the windows, but wanted to make sure we really used the windows. 
as I said before. I can forgive a lot as long as I am told what to expect and in a timely fashion - I know last minute things are unavoidable, but pretty much everything that went wrong on this job could have been averted if they communicated things to us ahead of time

It took a couple of weeks as expected. Todd & Mark did a pretty good job with removing the old paint. Was a bit disappointed with the pricing as I purchased an Angie's List big deal and it didn't seem that I received any real discount from it, as I received the overall quote and it seemed like what I paid for the big deal was used, not what the value of the deal. Overall the job was done well, although had them come back out a couple of times for minor issues.

Todd estimated home on wrong day and I was not present. Because of this there was some misunderstandings on the quote. Todd and I negotiated additional work to a mutual agreement and proceeded. Joe and John were outstanding. The quality of workmanship was Grade A and was done on time. I would highly recommend this company

. The deal is for 8 hours of painting for two guys to do. I thought it would be a fairly quick job, but not being a painter myself, I don't have an actual basis to judge.

But, let's just say, a single coat of paint did not cut it. had to completely redo at least 2 walls to cover the areas that still showed patches of the old paint. They did not remove one of the pieces of furniture from the wall, tried to paint around it, spattered it with paint instead, then finally took it off the wall to finish the job, but it took me 30 minutes to get half the tiny yellow dots off the green table.

Also, I had a lot of spatter to clean off the floors, picking with my fingernail, splat by splat. (Tiny little dots).

From afar, the job was OK, from closer up and during the daylight hours, it was as described above. It took me 3 hours to 'finish up'.

Whatever, the basic work was accomplished. It looks pretty darned good now. I just would have been more appreciative of pride in the final product.

I had used them but I was not very happy with them, for the work they performed. First of all they told me they will be done in two days which was not done. By the end of the day there was hardly anything done. They were trying to rush and push as much as possible because I had lined up other workers there for other stuff. I don't know what plans they came up with, because when they told me two days I thought they would be done in two days. The second thing that I didn't like about them was, they did a very rush like job in the end and somehow they broke certain things like the blinds that they had removed; they should have put it back but they left it as it is. I had to ask someone else to put it for me. Basically they had wrapped my fan with some paper, but while pulling it out they spoiled the colour of the fan, as it was done without precautions. They discolored the fan, they should've taken the time instead of rushing the job. I will not recommend them to any of my friends. they even disturbed me at night and wanted to do work at night.

Overall, the Whites are completely satisfied with Todd's professionalism in his ability to keep his customers informed, punctual and honest. Todd is a rare breed in his profession......and I might add he has a good sense of humor. He is just d*** good at what he does, the house looks fresh and great.
Thanks Todd, The Whites

Great. Todd was always very responsive and quickly made a return visit a few weeks after the job was completed to touch up a few areas.

Well!

See above.

Todd and his crew did a phenomenal job. While I bought this Angie's List deal in November, due to the rainy weather, the service had to be postponed. I chose my colors, let Todd know what they were, and he purchased the paint. the entire job was completed between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. It looks amazing. The crew took down what needed to be taken down and replaced everything perfectly. I high recommend this company. He also does interior painting as well.

jo

Todd Milne was prompt and got the job done.  A relative of his did all the work and he didn't properlyand make sure that the finished product, the painted front door,  worked well. I called him to repair it.  He tried to do that but it was an unsatisfactory repair.  I now have to get another contractor to fix  the problem front door so that it will close properly.

Well done

They not only painted the house but moved stuff: plants and furniture on the porch, outside plants leaning against the house, but also made my neighborhood phoebe (a bird) very happy.  Her nest was against a wall, very high up.  They very carefully painted around it.  She came back and gave her approval.
  They were polite and funny and very very professional.
  I would hire them again in a heartbeat.

Todd Milne was completely professional and responsive from start to finish. He very promptly came out to inspect my home and discuss what we wanted, and followed up quickly with a bid for additional work that I was interested in (i.e., repair and caulking of  defects in the stucco and wood portions of my home). I found his pricing to be extremely competitive with other companies, and when he and Mark came to paint our house they were detail-oriented, efficient and did a great job. Todd took us on a walk-around as they wrapped up, and made sure that we were happy with everything, and told us to call anytime if we noticed anything we wanted him to touch up or fix.
If you want a reputable, professional painter who will make your house look great at a very reasonable price, definitely call Todd Milne. We recommend him without reservation, and in fact will be talking with him about future renovation and painting projects as well.

Completed painting of exterior wood trim in one day.

Both Todd and Mark were very professional. Would recommend.

I thought Milnes did a great job for the price.  They were timely, professional, and reasonable with the additional costs.  They finished the job earlier than expected.  I ended up paying about $400 more for additional prepping due to bare eaves and rafters that were replaced on my roof - very reasonable given the work involved.  Customers should understand that at this price, they will have to pick the paint colors themselves, and that the company uses a special paint that requires only one coating.  The company discloses this before work begins, so I felt that I got what I bargained for.

These folks were amazing to work with. They were consistently respectful and responsive to this single female Babyboomer homeowner's questions, concerns, and special requests, despite her continual hovering throughout the job. Their prep work left surfaces clean and ready for painting. Their work was focused on the details of required repair to surfaces in order to provide a "new" look to a 65YO house not painted in over twenty years, and succeeding in that effort. They worked with oil paint, rather than a lesser chemistry. They fought a significant architectural barrier with associated vines in order to complete the work. I said to Todd as they left, final payment in-hand, "I own you now and you must promise to return whenever I need you," which he promised to do.  High marks and a willingness to refer friends and family based on my experience.  Trustworthy, which is a description I do NOT use lightly when describing household contractors.  JUST AWESOME!

Overall we were pleased with the work and the experience of dealing with Milne. They responded quickly to our initial phone call and came to our house to provide an estimate the next day. He explained the different types of primer and paint we should consider in understandable language, so that made the decisions pretty easy. They were able to start the work within a few business days of providing the estimate and did the work 2 or 3 day period. The wallpaper was completely removed and taken out of the house to the trash in a clean way. The paint job itself seemed to be even and I was happy that no errant paint stained the mirror frame or tiles or plumbing fixtures. I had multiple holes in the wall from previous wall hangings and they could have done a better job filling one of them, but the others were fixed fine. A few months after the job, one wall near the shower got dirty and at first I thought it was some sort of defect in the paint so I called Milne back to have a look. He came by the next day and showed us that the spots were dirt on top of the paint and even cleaned them off for us.